Many packages for beverages are manufactured in so-called portion volumes, intended to be consumed straight from the package. The majority of these packages are provided as an assembly with a drinking straw in a protective envelope which is secured on the one side wall of the package. The packages, which may have parallelepipedic or tetrahedral configuration, are manufactured from a laminate with a core of paper or paperboard, with different layers of thermoplastics and possibly aluminum foil. On the one wall of the package, most often the upper or top wall, a hole has been punched out in the core layer and this hole is covered by the remaining layers of the laminate. This makes it possible to penetrate the hole with the drinking straw which accompanies the package, resulting in a drinking straw with direct access to the drink enclosed in the package.
A problem with assemblies as described above is that it is difficult to consume the beverage on-the-go. Preparation of the package before consumption is needed, and comprises several steps; removing the protective envelope enclosing the drinking straw from the package, after which the protective envelope is opened to retrieve the drinking straw; inserting the drinking straw into the package; adjusting an end section of the drinking straw to direct the drinking straw into the mouth of the user intending to imbibe the drink. In addition, several of the above mentioned steps require two hands; alternatively, in some steps, a consumer may use one hand in combination with his or her teeth. Further, contaminants from the consumer risk entering the package. Further, the insertion of the drinking straw sometimes requires extensive force, causing contents to spill out of the package. Further, the protective envelope has to be discarded by the user.
Another problem is that the drinking straw may be separated from the package during production or transport, thus forcing the package, including the drink enclosed, to be discarded. Even worse, the problem of the missing drinking straw may not be discovered until the consumer intends to open the package.